You’re probably familiar with an abdominal ultrasound, which is commonly used with pregnant women. Learn what a transvaginal ultrasound is and why you would need one.
Fibroids primarily develop during a woman’s reproductive years, when estrogen levels are at their highest. Approximately 30% of women get fibroids before age 35, and 20 to 80% by age 50.
While fibroids go unnoticed by many women, they often cause ongoing pain. Our compassionate team, including Drew Malany, MD, Michael Hay, MD, Maria Huntley, MD, and two nurse midwives Andraya Hitchner and Carol Kolar, can treat your painful fibroids or address other obstetric or gynecological issues at Women's Health Care Center, PLLC, in Helena, Montana.
While uterine fibroids rarely develop into cancer, they can still wreak havoc on your life. Depending on their location, fibroids may or may not cause pain. Our doctors generally diagnose fibroids during a pelvic exam or based upon such symptoms as:
Large fibroids can even extend into your pelvis or abdomen. They may also cause extensive pain when they outgrow their blood supply and begin to die.
We diagnose a variety of fibroids depending upon their location and size, such as:
If pelvic pain persists, or you begin spotting between your periods, contact one of our doctors to review your symptoms.
While we’re not completely sure what causes fibroids, several common factors may contribute to their development. These include:
Factors including obesity and frequent consumption of alcohol, red meat, and caffeine, may also increase your risk of fibroids. Fibroids usually shrink after menopause as hormone production decreases.
While diet may play a small role in fibroid development, increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables might help reduce their severity. We can discuss treatment options for painful fibroids, including:
While these may help, they may also cause unwanted side effects, such as headaches, breast tenderness, and more. For those suffering extensively from fibroid-related issues, we offer such surgical treatments as:
We make a few tiny incisions to remove your fibroids.
We cut off the blood supply to the fibroid so it eventually dies.
We perform this procedure to remove tumors from the uterus of women still hoping to get pregnant.
We use a laser to shrink the fibroids or cut off its blood supply.
We employ high-energy ultrasound waves to shrink fibroids.
In extreme cases, we can remove part or all of the womb for those no longer hoping to get pregnant.
We also recommend some less invasive, at-home remedies to ease your pain, such as heating pads, gentle stretching, yoga, or t’ai chi. Increasing inflammation-reducing foods like wild salmon and supplements such as curcumin and omega3s, and resveratrol-rich fruits and berries, may minimize uterine fibroid cell growth.
To diagnose and ease the pain of fibroids or discuss any other health-related issues with one of our experienced doctors, simply call or book a consultation online with Women's Health Care Center today.
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